'SMALL WARS' RULES

Quite a few years ago when my son was small, (he's now over 6feet high with a family of his own), I tried to interest him in wargaming with something other than Warhammer 40K. It didn't work. In order to tempt him I devised a few very simple rules that were supposed to provide a fairly quick game with the minimum of technicalities. They were far from ideal and intricate subtlety was absent. I present them here for your interest.

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SMALL WARS 

battles with toy soldiers

These rules are designed for use with standard 54mm scale toy soldiers, though they can be adapted for other sizes.

Organisation.

Infantry are organised into battalions of 8 figures including an officer, extra figures such as drummers or standard bearers can be used but will not count in calculations.

Cavalry regiments consist of 4 troopers including an officer.

Artillery batteries consist of one gun, gun crew of 4, plus a limber and mounted officer if these are available.

Movement

Infantry

in line              6 inches

in column        9 inches

move and fire  4 inches

Cavalry

standard move  12 inches

mount/dismount 6 inches

Artillery

standard move     9 inches

limber/unlimber  3 inches

Others

Staff                     15 inches

Wagons                  6 inches

Notes. 

1. Cavalry mount/dismount and artillery limber/unlimber distances are deducted from any standard move being made.

2. Infantry changing formation may not fire on that move.

Terrain.

All units move at half speed while any part of that unit remains in contact with the obstacle.

Firing

Infantry :- use one dice per four men firing

Range                                    Hits

0 - 6 inches                            half dice score

7 - 12 inches                          quarter dice score

When firing at cavalry or troops in cover, half the score again.

Cavalry

See the rules for melee, below. Cavalry must be in contact with enemy to engage.

Artillery : - use one dice per gun.

Shells must not pass within 2 inches of own troops.

Target must be within 22.5 degrees of line of barrel.

Gun cannot fire if under enemy fire.

Range.                 (allowed dice score)                     Hits

 0 - 24 inches            1 - 6                                    full score

24 - 30 inches           3 - 6                                    half score

30 - 36 inches           5 - 6                                    quarter score(rounded down)

for firing on cavalry, artillery crews and troops under cover, half the score again.

Melee

Troops in melee draw cards per figure in contact on both sides.

A black card drawn means the man survives

A red card drawn means the man is killed.

Losing side falls back one move and may not fire next move. If below 50% strength then the unit routs from the table.

Winning side holds its place. If below 50% strength then the unit takes a dice throw.

Odd result (1, 3, 5) unit routs off  table edge at full standard move rate.

Even result (2, 4, 6) unit withdraws to table edge at half standard move rate and then rallies, returning to action at standard move rate.

Outcome

Victory applies when one side has obtained its objective, or when 50% of the enemy have been destroyed and routed from the table.

Equipment Needed

One pack of standard playing cards.

A quantity of standard six-sided dice

Tape measure or ruler

Protractor

Note

If smaller scale figures are used, then substitute centimetres for inches